The subject matter herein relates generally to grounding connectors.
Some electrical connectors are used for grounding various components. For example, grounding connectors use grounding contacts to electrically common the grounding connector with another component, such as a mating connector. The body or shell of the grounding connector may also be used to electrically common the grounding connector with the other component. The grounding connectors typically include an outer shell and an insert received in the outer shell. The insert holds a plurality of grounding contacts or pins, which are electrically commoned by a base plate or printed circuit board, or alternatively, the insert is manufactured as a single component, such as through a cold forming or machining process.
Such grounding connectors are not without problems. For example, the pins are typically soldered or laser welded to the base plate or the printed circuit board. However, soldering may be undesirable in some circumstances, such as when using plated components as the soldering process cannot be used with certain plating chemistries. Additionally, laser welding is restrictive in some circumstances, such as relating to compatibility of certain metals attempted to be joined by laser welding. Moreover, grounding connectors formed using cold forming contacts into one component requires expensive tooling which cannot be changed, such as when pin sizing, pin spacing, or other design features are needed to be changed. Moreover, machining the pins into a single component requires a large amount of time and material removal. Such techniques are expensive and time-consuming.